


Tell me

by CupcakeGangsta



Category: Shatter Me Series - Tahereh Mafi
Genre: Dysfunctional Family, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Non-Graphic Violence, Paris Anderson is a zombie cyborg, Paris Anderson's A+ Parenting, Threats of Violence, Unhealthy Grieving Process, or at least James thinks so
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:13:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26219176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CupcakeGangsta/pseuds/CupcakeGangsta
Summary: The missing scene in Defy me when Adam offers himself up to Anderson. And at the same time James finds out he's actually their father.James-centric.(Then the rest is James finding out about his mother by hanging out with Anderson.)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Desc of violence:  
> The violence includes the threat of a slap to a child, a punch to the face to an adult, an adult being lifted by the hair, Anderson threatning to harm James and Anderson pricking himself in the finger with a knife.

James had wanted to stay on the pizza party. He knew what was going on. That this was most likely the last night they spent in sector 45. Maybe for forever. But Adam had told him sleep was important, so as soon as he had had his share of pizza Adam had tucked him into bed.

He slept better nowadays. He felt safe at base. There was always someone awake. Someone with superpowers.

And yet, despite having laid in bed for the better half on an hour, he felt something was off. He opened his eyes and looked around his dark room. He didn't know how he knew, but something was wrong.

Perhaps it was that the strange semi yelling that had drifted all the way to his and Adam's room had suddenly stopped. He hadn't been surprised that there had been arguing. He had wanted to get up and join in to see what the problem was, but he knew Adam would be annoyed with him.

Now though he was going to follow his intuition rather than his bed time.

Pushing away the covers he got out of bed and headed out. He had to blink at the ceiling lights that seemed to blare harder than usual. At this time of day they were usually dimmed in the hallway. But not now...

Straight away he could hear that there was a whole lot of tumbling and commotion going on in the main room, and as he rounded the corner the boy realized that there were at least twice the amount of people in the room as there were before.

And that half of the Omega Pointers were slipping towards the floor for some reason.

He looked up to see a man being assisted up by a soldier from underneath a large pile of chairs. The boy and man locked eyes.

"Grab the boy."

He didn't have time to run far. Because suddenly there was a grip around his waist and suddenly he was in the air, carried back. He screamed. He kicked and flailed. Kenji had taught him. Tried to teach him, at least, before Adam told him not to.

 _You're never completely powerless, kid._ Kenji had told him. _You just have to go a bit primal._

He bit down as soon as he felt fabric touch his lips. But he was too small. Too weak. The soldier barely flinched at the bite and he was dropped by a wall. Hands tied together behind his back. The taste of metal in his mouth.

He looked around to try and understand what was going on. Everyone was on the floor now. Except for the soldiers, obviously, who were walking around making sure everyone was unconscious.

"Adam!", he yelled when he spotted his brother across the room, in the same spot where they had had pizza an hour earlier.

Adam didn't respond. He just laid there.

" _Adam…!",_ he tried again, louder this time.

Suddenly someone had walked up to him and his head was tilted back with a knuckle on his chin.

It was the first time James had ever seen him, but he immediately knew it was him. On top of that his name was written on the lapel. It wasn't hard to read despite it being slightly wrinkled from being buried underneath a bunch of chairs. _Supreme commander Anderson._ Warner's dad.

Anderson was smiling.

"Don't touch me!", James growled and kicked towards him.

"You're supposed to be dead you zombie! You stupid zombie dicta-"

He managed to land a hit on his wrist, and as he did pain bloomed in his toes, bare from having already gone to bed.

"Ow!"

"Ow ow ow ow!", he whimpered and slumped against the wall, tears gathering in his eyes.

"That's what happens when you try to kick metal, young man", the Supreme Commander tutted and stood up straight again. He didn't seem to have even noticed the kick, and James had hoped it would at least throw him off balance a little.

Jame blinked away the tears in his eyes and glared up at the man. He then turned his gaze to see a pair of soldiers starting to drag Castle and Kenji out the door.

"Leave them alone, you cyborg! You zombie robot cyborg!", James yelled.

Anderson glanced at him, almost looking shocked but mostly looking like he was thinking it was kind of funny. Then he raised his arm. With the other he grabbed the collar of James' pyjamas.

James knew what was coming, and shut his eyes hard.

"Leave him alone!"

Anderson turned, and James opened his eyes again.

It was Adam. He looked like he was about to pass out. Fighting whatever drug they had injected into his system.

"Aah, you're still awake, son?", Anderson wondered. The soldier restraining Adam raised a dart gun, awaiting an order to sedate him properly.

Yet, Anderson did not give the order. Instead he let go of James and walked up to Adam.

"Were you saying something?"

Adam, who had managed to raise himself up on his knees, looked up at the man. Adam's apple moving in his throat as he gulped.

"Dad, leave him alone."

" _Dad?",_ James echoed. His mouth slightly agape in shock.  
"Adam what-?"

"Oh, you haven't told him?", Anderson interrupted. He laughed as Adam just stared at him.  
" _He doesn't know!"_

He glanced at James. Chuckled again.

"Not that it makes much of a difference. What's important is that you're here. Or, more precisely, in one of my holding cells."

He motioned to a guard, and suddenly someone grabbed James, lifting him up into the air again. He immediately began to struggle, but nothing had changed in the bare five minutes and he didn't get anywhere.

"NO!", Adam yelled.  
"I said _leave him alone!"_

Suddenly there was a thud and Adam groaned in pain. James managed to look over and see his brother kneeling against the floor. The soldier next to him still had his fist raised in the air. Ready to deliver more.

Anderson stood watching with his hands in his pockets.

"And why would I do that?"

Adam wheezed out something reminiscent of a whimper, and turned his head to look up. The bruise was already starting to bloom. The soldier had knocked him straight in the left eye.

He hesitated. Glanced at James who was still up in the soldier's arms. Back at Anderson.

"I… I'll give myself up to you", Adam said.

Anderson actually looked shocked for a moment, then he laughed. Laughed out loud. As if the proposal was hilarious.

"Well isn't that _adorable_...", he mused.

" _Give myself to you",_ he mimicked. Chuckled again.

" _You already belong to me!",_ he then yelled. And in a swift move he has grabbed Adam by the hair, pulled him upright in a kneeling position and tilted his head back.

"I own you. All of you. Always have. I'm only here to collect you, because-", he paused to huff and roll his eyes. "As much as I would love to deny it seems like Aaron is entertaining the idea of having younger siblings. And I'm sure he'd love for both of you to stay alive."

"And yes, I know you both know. You're so sweet by the way", he said and ran his thumb along Adam's face, suddenly tender.  
" _Crying over me..."_

"I have something that could be useful to you", Adam interrupted. And by the way he said it through his clenched jaw it was clear that Anderson was speaking the truth. Which would explain why his brother had seemed so… _tangled up lately,_ James thought. And why he and Warner were behaving so weird around each other.

Anderson quirked an eyebrow. Took a step back.

"And what would that be?"

"I need your word first. You need to promise that James remains unharmed."

"Adam...", James started, but was interrupted by a look from Adam.

"He's hasn't done anything wrong", Adam continued.

Anderson pursed his lips, took a moment to look at the ceiling. Pretending to be considerate. He sighed.

"You know what, _why not?_ I gave your brother a favor, might as well be fair and run it even now that we're about to have the entire family together. _If_ whatever it is you have to offer is useful, that is…", he adds.

Adam nodded. Glanced at James again. Moistened his lips.

 _Now,_ James thought, Adam is going to tell them that he's able to turn off machines, just like Castle had suggested back in Omega Point.

"The reason I could touch Juliette-"

"Adam don't-!"

" _-is because I can cancel out abilities...!"_

This time Anderson actually looked interested. James watched as the gears turned in his head.

" _Cancel out?",_ he asked.

" _Turn off. Render unusable,_ whatever you want to call it. I found out at Omega Point", Adam told him.

"Can you project any?", Anderson wondered.

"Y-yeah a little", Adam replied, surprised that Anderson was familiar with the terminology.

It was obvious Anderson wasn't completely convinced.

"Prove it", he said. He turned and gestured for a soldier, the same one who had been dragging an unconscious Castle out the room. The soldier walked up and stood at attention. At the same time the soldier who had been carrying James returned him to the wall.

"You know what to do. Target the child", Anderson said.

James didn't let that scare him. He barely even glanced at the soldier positioning himself to shoot him, or whatever he was about to do. He kept his eyes glued at his older brother. He really wanted to yell at him for telling the bad guy about his secret ability, but he knew Adam needed all the support he could get.

Adam managed to spare him a look before aiming his attention at the soldier.

" _Now",_ Anderson said.

And nothing happened.

James looked over to see the soldier looking shocked, and Anderson observing him.

"Are you doing it?", Anderson asked.

"I am attempting to, sir." The soldier glanced at Adam.  
"But it seems like they're… gone… I can't feel them."

Andersons eyes widened. He quickly walked up to his son, Adam, and placed a hand on his head.

"Do it on me", he ordered. Then he reached for his pocket, bringing out a blade with a flick of his hand. James watched as the man pricked himself in the finger. A sphere of blood emerged, then overflowed to pour down towards Adam's forehead. And it continued. More and more droplets of blood.

Anderson brought up his hand. Looked at it. Fascinated. His blue eyes, that James realized were quite an odd shade of light blue, seemingly alight. He laughed again, but this time genuinely surprised and amused. A strange sight as the wound on his hand just kept dripping blood. Coloring the sleeve of his shirt with red.

His other hand reach out to pat Adam on the head. As if he was some kind of dog.

"And here I thought you're only use was being a heater...", he mused.

As Adam slumped to the floor, fully sedated now, Anderson kept his attention on the wound. Last thing James saw was Anderson wiping his hands with a handkerchief.

Then everything went dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so surprised no one has written this scene yet. Or does no one care about Adam anymore? Could that be it? Yeah I guess that could be it...  
> I considered writing this in first person, like the rest of the books, but I just couldn't get James' inner voice right ._.  
> Anyone who would like me to continue this? I have some ideas for a canon divergence with James spending time with Anderson and finding out more about his mother. Anyone's up for that? *shouts into the void*: Anyone??  
> If you don't want more but still liked it feel free to tell me.  
> If you thought something was wrong with it: Concrit feedback is greatly appreciated. I want to grow as a writer.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay from here on out I'm pretending Anderson spent time with James. And that it made him start thinking about his feelings. Because if Mafi was allowed to humanize Anderson then so am I :P

When he woke up again he had no idea where he was. It wasn’t his bed, because he was sitting up. It wasn’t the sofa in his and Adam’s apartment because he didn’t live in the apartment anymore. And neither was it the HQ, because they didn’t have such comfortable chairs there. Actually, he was  _ very _ comfortable. Strangely so. There was a pillow underneath his head and someone had pulled a blanket over him.

As he woke up more he felt a barely noticeable humming coming from all around him. He grimaced and forced himself awake, and squinted out into the room. The lamps in the ceiling were straight lines, but they were dimmed, probably because it was in the middle of the night. Other than that there were a few lamps here and there providing a warm glow. 

He couldn’t help but whine as he tried to think why this was a problem. He turned his head. Across from him was a chair just like the one he was in. Someone was in it.

He startled so hard that he was awake in a second. And despite not making any obvious noises Anderson glanced up from the tablet he had propped up on a stand sticking out of the arm of the chair.

“You’re not supposed to be awake”, Anderson remarked.

James hesitated, unsure whether or not to engage with him. But he couldn’t just go back to sleep, could he?

“Where am I?”

“On my plane”, Anderson replied, without looking up from whatever he was reading.

“Why am I on your plane?  _ Where’s Adam?” _ He looked around to try and see if there were any other occupied super-comfortable chairs. There weren’t any.

“You are on my plane because that makes it way easier to keep track of you. Adam is on a faster plane that will be landing soon”, Anderson told him.

“Where are we going?”

“Oceania.”

Oceania. They were taught about the continents in school. Oceania was built up of islands. It was on the other side of the equator, so back a hundred years ago when it was summertime in North America it was wintertime in Oceania. It was quite far away. Hence the plane.

He had never been on a plane before, but he had seen them in pictures. The walls weren’t straight, they were rounded. So were the windows. That’s where the similarities ended. Anderson’s plane had nowhere as many chairs as there usually were. There were the two chairs they were sitting in, and on the opposite side there was a sofa with a coffee table in front of it. Further in was a table set next to what looked like a kitchen. James frowned.

“This isn’t how hostages are usually treated, right?”

Anderson looked up and smiled then. He rested his chin on his knuckle as he regarded him. “No, it’s not. Very observant of you.”

James suspected the man was being sarcastic. Which he wasn’t happy about.

“Then why am I here?”

“Because I made a promise to your brother, remember? It’s way easier to make sure something isn’t damaged by keeping it close.”

James thought back to  _ the promise. _ Adam on his knees. Begging. James had never seen him beg before, and it scared him. Adam, who always seemed to know what to do. But not this time. This time he had been terrified; of the man sitting across from him.

James hesitated. But the silence only seemed to make the elephant in the room grow. Especially since Anderson wasn’t showing any signs of returning his attention to the tablet.

“Are you really my Dad?”

“I am”, Anderson replied, a smirk on his lips.

Normally, if someone had told him they were his father he wouldn’t have believed them. But based on Adam’s reaction he wasn’t so sure anymore...

“How does that work?”

“Do I really have to explain how babies are made?”, Anderson quipped.

“I know that!”, James protested.   
“But I don’t remember Warner...”

“Aaron is your half-brother”, Anderson explained, quick to interrupt him. As if the word  _ Warner _ made him mad.

James bit his lip, trying his best to make sense of it all.

“You’re still confused”, Anderson said, tilting his head.   
“What did he tell you?”

The boy wanted to say something that would make the man shut up and stop looking so darn smug! But the more he thought about it the more unsure he became.

“Oh, he lied didn’t he?”, Anderson suggested.

“He said that you died”, James hurried to say.   
“That you and Mom died...”

Anderson blinked. His smile slipped.

“And how did that happen, supposedly?”

“A crash. He doesn’t like to talk about it...”, James told him.

“Yeah, that’s not how it happened”, Anderson told him.

It was strange. He wasn’t smug anymore, just as James had wanted; but it hadn’t happened in the way he had hoped. Suddenly Anderson seemed angry. And James wasn’t sure he wanted to be stuck on a plane with him.

“Mom’s still dead though, right?”, James asked, hoping his brother hadn’t completely lied to him about their parents.

“Yes”, Anderson said. His words were short and clipped. He returned his gaze to the tablet. But not really looking at it.   
“Your mother is still dead.”

James buried himself into the blanket as he shyly observed Anderson. Part of him was happy that Adam hadn’t completely lied to him, yet another was still disappointed. If your dead Dad suddenly revealed that he wasn’t dead, what were the chances of your Mom doing the same? Not that high apparently.

The silence stretched itself thin and awkward. A minute must have passed when Anderson suddenly stood up and walked over to the kitchenette. James watched as he took out a glass, filled it with water (from the tap!), then took out a bottle from a pocked and added a few drops. He then returned, holding it out for the boy. 

James looked at it skeptically. He might have been tired, but he wasn’t drinking whatever a supervillain wanted him to drink.

“Are those drugs?”, he wondered, pushing himself backwards.

“Yup”, Anderson confirmed. “Be a good boy and drink this, that way I won’t have to deal with your jet lag once we arrive.”

_ Jet lag,  _ that was what made you so tired when you traveled. Adam had explained it to him after the word had shown up in his homework.

James didn’t really want to comply, but at the same time he didn’t really want to just sit there in silence waiting for the plane to land. So he took the glass, drank the content, then sat back putting the glass on a side table next to his chair. Then he snuggled back into the pillow the best he could and waited for sleep to overtake him.

It soon did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments fuel the muse. Concrit feedback fuels the author's skills. Pointing out spelling mistakes also helps :)


	3. Chapter 3

He was actually surprised when he woke up alone.

And was kept alone for the entire day.

He wasn’t uncomfortable, by any means. There was the bedroom, where he had woken up. It had a bed larger than any he had seen before. They had given him his own bathroom. Or, he assumed it was his, because it would be strange if people had to walk through his room to get there. Aside from the room and the adjecent corridor was the living room.

It was huge. Larger than his and Adam's apartment. Despite the large space there weren’t many things inside. There was a sofa with some matching chairs, with the addition of a large screen TV that took up almost the entire wall. James had tried to figure out how it worked, but couldn’t find a remote or any buttons.

On the other end of the room was a large dining table. A large door-sized square in the wall told him that there had to be some kind of kitchen on the other side. But no matter how much he kicked and pushed it wouldn’t move.

He was locked inside with nothing to do. But he knew that this was far from how a hostage _was supposed_ to be treated, so he refused to feel sorry for himself. But when he didn’t have anything to do there was nothing to stop him from worrying about Adam.

Where was he? How were they treating him? James doubted Adam was locked into a hotel suite like the one he was in. Anderson had said Adam had to be delivered faster to Oceania, so obviously the people here wanted to do something to him. Test him. Find out how his powers worked.

And James was sure they wouldn’t be as nice as they had been at Omega Point...

“James, where are you?” It had been late afternoon when Anderson came to check on him. But he hadn't even gotten inside before James had ran away to hide. The confusion had lasted for less than a minute before Anderson’s shoes came into view. They were black and so polished that the light from the lamp reflected in them as a white blob.

James had never seen shoes like that, except for in movies. Everyone else wore sneakers or boots.

“Are you underneath the bed?”

He was underneath the bed.

“Go away!”, he hollered.

“These are my quarters you know”, Anderson said, unfaced with his yelling. “So if anything I can just move you to an ordinary holding cell if I want to.”

“These are _your_ quarters?”, James asked, equally as unfaced with the threat.

“Yes”, Anderson said.

“That’s so weird...”

Anderson chuckled. He smoothed out the cover of the unmade bed and sat down. The springs in the mattress sang above the boy’s head.

“Well, I do have to stay _somewhere_ when I’m not working...”

“Not _that._ Keeping me here”, James explained. He could see Anderson lift one foot and cross his leg over the other.

“Why do you say that? I had Juliette stay at my house. You'd be surprised over my limitless hospitality.”

“That’s just because you’re rich…!”, James exclaimed and stuck out his head next to the man’s foot.

“You’ve been crying”, Anderson said, ignoring the accusation.

He had been crying. On and off throughout the day. But since it wasn’t a question he didn’t have to answer. He pulled himself from underneath the bed and stood up. He dusted off his pants despite it having been squeaky clean underneath the bed.

“Have you eaten?”, Anderson asked.

“I want to see Adam”, James said, crossing his arms.

 _“That’s not what I asked”,_ Anderson said.  
“Did you eat the food I sent for you?”

James locked his face into a scowl, refusing to answer. Anderson stared back. The two remained like that for almost ten entire seconds until James shifted on his feet. He refused to show that he was impressed with Anderson’s stubbornness, and he looked away.

“I ate your stupid food...”

“And did you like it?”

James frowned. The food had been good. He had tried not to pay attention to the taste, seeing that he was being held hostage inside an evil lair, but it had been better than anything he had ever had before. Which was saying a lot, because that’s what he had said when he arrived at HQ in sector 45.

Apparently, his silence was speaking for itself.

“Aren’t you happy I give you food even though I don’t have to?”, Anderson asked.

“You promised Adam”, James protested.

“I promised you wouldn’t be harmed, not to treat you to the best of Oceania’s finest cuisine.”

James felt his annoyance reignite. Anderson was just throwing his money around and expected him to be grateful for it. But he knew how money worked, and the lunch he had had could surely cover a whole month's worth of food for the entire street of orphans back home in sector 45.  
“I know what you’re doing”, he said, leaning forward to make sure the man saw how unimpressed he was. “You want me to say _Thank you.”_

Anderson smirked.  
“And what if I am? It’s a father’s job to teach his son manners...”

James flinched. He couldn't explain why, but he knew what Anderson was saying was wrong and unfair.

“I don’t want a cyborg as a Dad! All I need is Adam _and I want to see him now…!”_

“First of”, Anderson said, gaining the slighest edge to his voice. “I’m not a cyborg. They’re _prosthetics,_ and I don’t know about you, but when I was young it was considered very rude to call someone a cyborg just because their feet were made of metal. And second, your brother is preoccupied.”

“Busy being poked and stabbed with needles?”, James retorted.

“Probably”, Anderson shrugged. “Evie is running some tests on him.”

He was about to say something else when he suddenly looked down to his lap where his hand was resting. He flipped it upwards and James’ eyes widened as he saw a rectangular shape _glow_ from underneath the skin on Anderson’s wrist.

“What’s-?”, James began to ask, wondering what kind of new cyborg power this was, but Anderson held up his other hand to silence him.

“Yes?”, he said, but not to James.

“With the boy.” Then he was quiet. A look of concentration in his eyes. And James realized that someone was definitely talking straight into Anderson’s head. Which only enforced the fact that he was, in fact, _a cyborg._

While Anderson kept listening James sat down next to him to try and have a better look at the glowing thing in his wrist. It was blue, but he couldn’t make out if it said anything without going any closer to the man; which he did not want to.

“Now?”, Anderson said. “No, I don’t see why not.”

He tapped his wrist, making the blue glow in his wrist disappear and he stood up, gesturing for James to do the same.

“Evie wants to see you.”

Evie. _Running-tests-on-Adam_ Evie. _Most-likely-poking-and-stabbing-Adam-with-needles_ Evie. James put on his fiercest scowl, already bracing to put up a fight. He backed up until he was at the other end of the bed. All he had to do was to throw himself backward and he’s be able to return to underneath the bed.

Anderson looked at him. Raised an eyebrow. “What are you doing?”

“I want to see Adam!”

“Christ...”, Anderson muttered, searching the room for something that could reinforce his patience.  
“He’s already been sedated. There wouldn’t be much to see…!”, he said, exasperated. 

“I WANT TO SEE MY BROTHER!”, James shouted.

He could tell the man was fighting back the urge to just grab him and drag him to the evil laboratory against his will. And probably rough him up a little along the way. But somehow, he didn’t. Instead, Anderson clenched and unclenched his hands. Ran a hand through his hair. James felt his gut clench in longing at the familiar gesture.

He sighed

“Fine. If you let Evie run her tests on you without throwing a fit, I’ll let you see your brother.”

James bounced up. “Really!”

 _“If you behave…”,_ Anderson stressed. “And let Evie poke and stab you with all the needles she wants.”

James’ happy mood quickly reshaped itself into a scowl. Anderson didn’t even wait for him to reply, though. And when he exited his bedroom, James followed.


	4. Chapter 4

“There you are”, a woman called as Anderson entered the room, bringing in James behind him.

The room they had entered was vast, if you could even call it _vast_ with all the tables and oddly potted plants, but it just _screamed_ evil scientist laboratory. Anderson easily cruised through the room, clearly at home with coming and going in there.

“Took you long enough”, she commented when Anderson rounded another weird machine, glass science… thing, and arrived at a donut shaped table with lots of papers and computer monitors.

“You try to go anywhere efficiently with a kid needing to stop and gawk everything...!”, Anderson snapped back. It had been obvious Anderson was used to walking around all _dignified_ in his evil lair, so after about the fifth time James had stopped to look at the _(super cool looking)_ machines and gadgets Anderson had grabbed him by the elbow and resorted to towing him along by force. And still he refused to answer James’ questions about the many things they walked past.

“What would you make me walk if you didn’t want to show off your evil lair…?”, James protested.

A man, who had been standing on the other side of the table from the woman, scoffed.

 _“Evil lair?”_ , he asked, looking at Anderson.

“Don’t encourage him, Max”, Anderson warned as he pulled James to stand in front of him.

“Here he is, Evie. All yours.” Anderson said and gave him a push towards the woman, expecting him to follow her. So this was Evie, James noted. He tried not to be intimidated by her. Luckily she didn’t pay him any attention, and instead kept her focus on the two men.

“Shouldn’t you be watching my son?”, Anderson asked Max.

“I don’t know about you, Paris, but watching kids sleep; especially kids that aren’t your own; isn’t very entertaining. Or productive for that matter”, Max said. _“Especially_ when they’ve passed the age of five. ”

“And I needed him to start running Adam’s analysis”, Evie flicked in. Ignoring the tangent of babysitting sleeping children.

“Have you seen Adam!”, James asked, turning to Evie. “Where is he?”

Evie blinked, as if she was properly seeing him for the first time. Her eyes were a deep brown. She looked at Anderson, as if he could translate what James was saying.

Anderson groaned. “Don’t start that up again!”

“You said I’d get to see Adam!”, James said, turning back around to glare at Anderson.

 _“Afterwards”,_ Anderson reminded him and spun the boy around in the direction where Evie had wanted him to go. Then James felt something flat send him propelling forwards. It took him a second to realize it had been Anderson’s palm on his butt.

Sending him one last glare over his shoulder James followed Evie as she headed towards a set of doors further into the structured jungle of potted plants.

James could hear Max give a low whistle behind them. “Wow Paris, did you finally figure out that there are ways other than physically assaulting your kids to make them do as you say?”

“Says the guy who stuck his daughter in a tank.”

* * *

The room Evie led him to looked equally as evil lair:ey as the rest of the building. The ceiling was practically a mirror, because when he looked up from the examination table; where Evie had pointed for him to take a seat; he could see his reflection look down at himself.

He could see Evie open a package, taking out a few cylinders and laying them on a silver tray.

“You’re going to take my blood, aren’t you?”, James asked, recognizing the shape of the cylinders from the testing Sara and Sonya had done with him.

“I am”, she said as she turned around.  
“It won’t take long”, she continued. Which was weird, because it made it sound like he wanted to go back to Anderson. Which he didn’t. Even if he had to be stabbed with needles.

“You want to see if I have superpowers like Adam, right?”

Evie failed to mask her surprise.

“Not necessarily...”, she said and put down the tray on a little side table next to the examination table.

“But it would be very helpful if you just told me if that is the case.”

“As if I’d tell you that”, James replied. He would have crossed his arms, but Evie was wiping the crook of his elbow. She hummed.

“Tell me, James, are you good with needles or do I need to get some anesthesia for you?”

“I’m good”, James said. After all, he had had lots of practice with the girls. And he wanted to get this over with so that he could go see Adam.

Evie finished wiping, then she took one of the syringes from the tray. James heard the clip from her uncapping it, but he didn’t look at the needle, just in case he’d change his mind when seeing the size of it. He looked around the room for somewhere to rest his eyes while Evie stole his blood for evil science, but everything was reflective, so there was barely no point to it. He could see himself everywhere.

“You’ve grown.”

The abrupt sentence was enough to distract him from the prick that followed. He looked at her. Her face was neutral, as if talking about the weather. She was watching the vial that was filling up with his blood.

“Have we met before?”

“Not in the way you’re thinking. But I looked at your mother’s ultrasound”, she told him as she clipped the syringe (The needle was still stuck in his arm!) and capped the sample before putting it down on the tray. She picked up another one.

She glanced at him before attaching it to the needle.  
“You turned out bigger than we expected.”

 _“Bigger?”_ , he gawked.   
“Everyone tells me I’m small…!”

“You were premature. But you’ve caught up rather nicely, when compared to your brothers’ charts.”

“What’s that? _Pre-mature?”_

“It just means you were born earlier than you were supposed to. But we were able to predict it with that exam, so your mother was fine.”

James just stared at her.

“My mom died.”

Evie, unlike everyone else who’d looked horrified when he dropped that sentence, just looked at him like he was stupid.

“Your mother’s death had nothing to do with the fact that you were premature. Actually, if we hadn’t found it when we did there may have been further complications. She could have died before you were even born.”

She sighed.

“I don’t even want to try and imagine it; Paris was bad enough when Catherine died. _Paris left heartbroken with a newborn to take care of…!”_ She shook her head in dismay.

James spent a few moments considering what that must have been like. Paris Anderson. Zombie cyborg dictator Anderson. _Heartbroken._ He knew how babies were made, so Anderson must have loved his mother. And his mother must have loved Anderson back.

His mom… 

“So you helped my mom?”, James asked.

She blinked. She probably never heard it being phrased like that, being an evil scientist and all.

“She wasn’t feeling well and Paris wanted the best care for her. It was obvious he’d take her here.”

“Wait!”, James gasped, doing a little jump that made Evie glare at him.  
“My mom was _here?!”_

Then he had to gasp again. _“I was here?!”_

She considered it. Capped another vial of blood and put it down next to the already prepared one.

“Well, not this room exactly, but this building is one of the first ones we built. So somewhere around here...”

James looked around with a newfound fascination. Could his mother have walked past this room? With _him_ in her stomach? What had she looked like? What had Anderson looked like? He had to have been there, too right? And Adam, too. He had only been eight when James was born. He had never mentioned flying to New Zealand though. He’d have to ask him.

His musings were interrupted by Evie pulling out the needle and pressing a square of cotton to the puncture wound.

“All done”, she said.

“Was that it?”

“Yes”, she said and carried the vials to the counter. It was like she had dismissed him completely now that she had his blood.

“So I can go see Adam now?”

She glanced over her shoulder. Brown eyes lingered on him for a moment. She looked away. “I have no idea what your father has promised you.”

James scowled, but slipped off the table. “He’s not my Dad. He’s a zombie cyborg dictator!”

“I did not use the word _Dad,_ little boy”, she said, completely unfaced with the name-calling. She used some kind of stickers to label the vials. “Paris Anderson has never been the Daddy-type. Except for when Aaron was born. He was crazy about him. He showed baby-pictures to anything with eyes.”

“He had such high hopes for that boy...”, she said, shaking her head.

That was even harder trying to imagine. _Anderson showing off baby-pictures._ Where would he keep them? In his wallet? On his phone? James did not have much experience with wallets nor phones. He decided not to ask anything more, because he did not want to risk over-capacitating his brain. He couldn’t help but wonder what Warner looked like as a baby, though.

“Then I’ll just go”, James said as he slowly moved towards the door.

“Good-bye, James”, was all Evie said, and he left. And he headed back to the evil laboratory.

He could practically hear Kenji scream in outrage on the other side of the globe, still stuck in Sector 45. Or that’s where he assumed Kenji and the rest were being kept. _Would he get a better chance to run away than this?_ Unlikely. But he didn’t know the way to Adam, and James would most likely be caught before managing to find Adam on his own.

Anderson was where he had left him, still talking to Max, but he had taken a seat. Both of them looked up when he came walking. Anderson raised an eyebrow at him.

 _“Where’s Evie?”,_ he asked, as if James had managed to overpower her somehow.

“She’s putting stickers on my blood vials.”

“That was quick...”, Anderson said.

“Well, I was so well behaved so it was super easy!”, James informed him.

“Good boy”, Anderson said, then he turned back to Max. 

“So, as I was saying...”

He made no move to get up.

James frowned. And after letting a few seconds transpire without seeing Anderson trying to wrap up the conversation he walked up and tugged on the fabric on his arm.

“Hey”, he said, trying to be gentle, but it was still urgent.

Anderson turned his gaze to him. He looked annoyed.

“We’re supposed to go visit Adam now”, James told him.

“And the adults are talking now, James. Go doodle on Max’ whiteboard over there, he doesn’t write anything important on there anyway.”

 _“I beg to differ...”,_ Max said, but it was clear they were sharing a joke.

James frowned.

“You promised...!” And when Anderson just looked at him blankly. And James understood that the man wasn’t planning on bringing him to Adam. At least not anytime soon.

He felt tears gather in his eyes. He backed a few steps.

“You liar!”, James huffed. “You lying zombie cyborg dictator…!”

It actually looked like Anderson was going to get out of the chair. Not to bring him to Adam, but most likely to smack James around for a bit for yelling in front of his evil colleague. Or that’s what James assumed Max was. Even if it was a bit strange for a dictator and a scientist guy to be working together...

Luckily for him Max distracted Anderson with a well timed scoff.

“Oh, I know this one!”, Max said, coy smirk on his lips.

_“A zombie, a cyborg and a dictator walks into a bar. He orders ten drinks.”_

It took James a moment to realize that Anderson was the butt of the joke. And only because Anderson was glaring daggers at Max who was giving Anderson a pointed look while smirking. James let out a laugh, to which Max proudly joined in.

“So this is what betrayal feels like?”, Anderson grumbled as the two laughed before pushing himself out of the office chair he had been sitting in.

James’ giggling was swiftly interrupted by Anderson grabbing his arm and jerking him into a straight course out of the evil laboratory.

“Say bye-bye to Max, James”, Anderson growled.

“Bye Max!”, James called.

“Bye James, bye Paris!”

James could still hear the echos of the man’s snickering when they reached the door.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't completely happy with the first version of this chapter, so I went back and added some nice lines here and there just to paint a better scene.

Anderson made him walk again. This time, though, James didn’t try to stop and look at anything, so it didn’t take long to get there. There were scientists everywhere, in robes looking identical to Max’ and Evie’s, milling in and out through several rooms. They gave James strange looks, but minded their own business. They weren’t like Max and Evie. Instead they were like ants. And Anderson was a big fat wasp who everyone stayed clear of.

They arrived at a door where Anderson stopped and turned to James.

“Before we go in there, I need you to know that you have been testing my patience all day, and if you had been any of your brothers I would have already slapped you to California and back again”, Anderson told him, his blue eyes boring into him.

_ “But I haven’t”, _ he continued as he readjusted his hold of James. (Which James had to admit was a smart move because he had in fact planned to just dash past him as soon as he gained access to Adam’s room.) “And you’ll make sure to tell your brother that.”

The man put his palm on a box on the wall and when the door clicked open Anderson pulled James along with him inside. They walked through a short, but dark, corridor before entering a room. It looked nothing like anything James had imagined inside an evil lair.

It was quite large and the floor was cascaded in light filtered through colored glass. There were five scientists spread out around the single object in the room. A bed. And also a few monitors and things, but they weren’t important.

“Adam!”

Adam, who had been laying down and staring at the ceiling (looking  _ really _ bored) looked up at the call of his name. His blue eyes widened and he quickly sat up with his legs hanging out over the edge. The scientists looked up as well. One stepped forward towards Anderson, clipboard at the ready. Anderson waved him off before she could even speak.

“Take half an hour”, he declared.

The scientists knew better than to protest and quickly left. When the door finally shut behind them Anderson released his hold of James’ elbow.

He practically leaped across the room to throw himself into Adam’s arms. The only things he was mindful of was the many cables and other weird looking stuff that were attached to his brother's arm.

Adam didn’t seem to care that much, however. He almost squashed him.

“Oh my God, it’s so good to see you…!” And James could feel how he buried his nose in James’ hair. “I’m so sorry I lied”, he continued, words falling off his lips like a pent up dam finally being opened. “I’m so,  _ so  _ sorry. I should have told you everything, both Warner and I. But we’re going to be fine I swear--”

He startled. James looked up and turned his head to follow Adam’s gaze.

Anderson was still standing there. Hands leisurely in his pockets. He looked like he was waiting for something.

“You can go now”, James told him.

“Nice try.”

James made a noise of disapproval, before turning back to Adam. James pushed his forehead against his brother’s neck. It was warm as it always was.

“He’s so mean...”, James grumbled to Adam. “I had to let a scientist-lady take my blood, he wouldn’t let me see you otherwise.” He then grimaced, remembering what Anderson had told him before. And as much as he hated having been stuck in that room Adam needed to know that he was, in fact, okay.

“But he hasn’t hit me.  _ Or tortured me.  _ Yet...”, he admitted.

He had expected that Adam would nod and say something along the lines of ‘ _ Yeah and it better stay that way!’. _ But instead Adam straightened his posture, looked at their Father and said in a very serious tone: “Thank you, sir.”

James made a face. He didn’t like hearing Adam thank a cyborg for things that were supposed to be obvious.  _ You didn’t torture anyone: Wow! Here’s a prize. _ No!  _ That’s how everyone else goes about their day, _ James wanted to say.

Anderson smirked but didn’t look like he was happy about being nice. Nor that Adam continued to be indebted to him. He just looked satisfied that James had done as he was told.

“Now that’s a perfect sign of gratitude. Watch and learn James”, he said. He then walked up to one of the monitors, and pulled out a keyboard to start scrolling through the data the scientist had wanted to present to him. This was obviously as much  _ privacy _ he was going to allow.

James wanted him to leave completely, but even James wouldn’t have left the prisoners alone so that they could scheme together; had he been an evil zombie cyborg dictator. So, instead he focused on what he was there for, to be with Adam.

“What did they do to you, Adam?”, he wondered.

“It’s mostly been the same thing as we did at Omega point, except their machines are different”, Adam told him. “Nothing has hurt so far. I’m just kind of annoyed that they’re making me wear these clothes. They’re  _ ridiculously  _ isolated.”

James had to agree. As he sat there in his brother’s lap he could tell that Adam was quite a bit warmer than usual in the robe they had given him.

“They said I won’t be wearing it that much longer though, because soon they’ll be monitoring my heart, so I’ll have to be shirtless. But enough about me, what have you’ve been up to?”, he asked James.  _ Have they done anything to you?, _ is what he actually meant.

James let his mouth run. About the plane and Anderson’s locked quarters, about Max and evil Evie who took his blood, about the weird gadgets he had passed on the way there but that Anderson wouldn’t let him look at. And for once Adam didn’t ask him to be quiet even once. He just listened while holding him close. And when James had said everything he wanted to say he had to ask:   
“Adam, what did they do to your hair?”

Adam reached up and touched the short, brown buzz cut. He had had a buzz from time to time after joining the military, but never this short.

“It’s to make it easier to attach the electrodes”, he explained and pointed out the wires with suction cups lying on a little table nearby.

“What do they want that for?”, James asked.

“They want to see what goes on in my head while I’m using my powers, I think.”

It seemed like a reasonable thing to try and figure out. If you were an evil scientist.

“You kind of look like Warner”, James said as he looked back at his brother.

Adam blinked. He was no doubt still surprised that James knew about Warner being their brother. But he did  _ kind of _ look like Warner.

“I guess that makes sense...”, he said.

“Yes, what was that about?”, Anderson flicked in. It made both brothers jump a little, and when James and Adam looked over at Anderson he was typing away at the monitor. He didn’t look up, but he knew he had their attention. “I thought Aaron knew how to handle clippers.”

The brothers glanced at each other. But since Adam didn’t actually know it was James who had to explain.

“It was our friend Kenji”, James said.

_ “Aaron let someone touch his hair?”, _ Anderson asked in disbelief. Then he scoffed. “He must have been up the walls...”

“Yeah...”, Adam tentatively agreed.

Anderson seemed to have lost interest in them though, but the interaction of Anderson  _ almost _ sounding like a Dad (At least he sounded like  _ Warner’s Dad.) _ reminded James of what Evie had told him earlier.

“Oh, Adam”, James said and tugged on his sleeve. “Evie said Mom was here, did you know that? When she was pregnant with me.”

Adam’s eyebrows rose in surprise. _“Here?_ _Evie_ said that?”

James nodded. “She did.”

“I don’t remember that...” Adam said, his eyebrows knitting themselves together in concentration.

“Evie’s right though, isn’t she?” It took both Adam and Anderson a second to realize that the boy was asking Anderson for confirmation.

The man made a face. Maybe it was the combined curiosity of James and Adam’s deep blue eyes, but he relented with a slight roll of his eyes.

“She is correct.”

“And you were here as well”, he added when he saw Adam still not looking convinced.

“I… I don’t remember that...”, Adam repeated.

“Well, there isn’t that much to remember, is it?”, Anderson sneered. “All you did was be a pain in the ass on the flight over. First you refused to sit down then you threw up like a dog.” But then he seemed to change his mind.

“But you must have remembered  _ something  _ from the first time because you got one of Evie’s stupid birds tattooed all over your chest.”

“Hold up”, Adam protested, for a moment seeming to forget his intense fear of disrespecting the man. James thought Adam was going to stand up for his tattoo. Or at least ask about the birds, because according to Adam he had just dreamt about them for a long time.

_ “First time?” _

Anderson rolled his eyes, then muttered something as he undoubtedly berated himself for even bringing it up. He gave up at trying to multitask with the monitor and clicked shut the keyboard with more force than warranted.

“Yes”, he told them, turning fully to them. “First time was when you were six and kept running fevers over a hundred and five seemingly at random. It freaked out your mother. When the hospital visits did not lead anywhere I suspected it was something else, so I brought you both here with the excuse of a vacation. Evie ran her tests and we concluded you were in fact an unnatural, albeit a  _ useless _ one.”

Well, guess who was wrong! James wanted to say. But he didn’t. He didn’t want to imagine what life might have been like if Anderson and Evie had realized Adam was a great resource for the Reestablishment when he was six. Maybe he had let their mom move to New Zealand for Adam to be studied easier. Maybe James had been born here. And became evil. Maybe he hadn’t been born at all. Maybe their mom hadn’t died if she had lived at an evil laboratory…

He had to physically shake off those thoughts. Luckily neither Adam or Anderson seemed to notice. Instead Anderson was still talking. And it was obvious he didn’t actually like talking about this, because as he retold the story his words were getting more and more short and clipped. Like when you were chopping onions. You just go faster and faster to get it over with. 

“After that, your mother thought I actually  _ cared _ about you and figured it was high time for another baby.” Anderson pointed at James. And the gesture made it clear that he had  _ not _ been high on getting another baby. “That almost  _ killed  _ her, which is what warranted the second trip.”

“Evie actually said they caught it before it could become dangerous”, James disagreed. He refused to let some cyborg make him feel bad over being conceived. “And Addie’s bird tattoo isn’t stupid, it’s actually really cool!”

Somehow, it seemed to make Anderson even angrier.

He made his way towards the door. He didn’t so much as look at James as he announced: “Visit’s over!”

James gasped. “It hasn’t been half an hour…!”

“I never said I was giving  _ you _ half an hour”, Anderson said menacingly. “Now, come here.” He made a motion of his hand where he pointed towards the ground by his feet.

James braced his arms around Adam, ready to pick up a fight. He wasn’t going to follow Anderson like some dog. But as he did Adam stopped him with a frantic shake of his head.

“Do as he says, James. That way,  _ if we’re both good, _ you can come visit again.”

James hated how Adam looked so scared. That he worded his sentence so carefully. Normally Adam would be no-nonsense and expect you to say  _ yes sir  _ and  _ no sir. _ And as much as James didn’t like it when Adam expected him to say  _ yes sir _ and  _ no sir  _ it was better than Adam being scared.

But his brother did have a point. Anderson would never let him come visit him again if they didn’t play along with his rules. ‘Them’ being only one rule, really: Zombie cyborg decides everything.

“He said you were going to be sedated, though”, James said, remembering Anderson and his argument from before.

Adam blinked. Obviously he hadn’t been notified of this.

“They can’t have me sedated all the time. Not if they want to continue asking me questions...”, he reasoned. But it was clear he wasn’t sure himself. He was just hoping. But so was James.

“Okay...”, James said. So when Adam gently pushed him off in the direction of Anderson James gave him one long, last hug, before doing as he was told.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BTW if anyone is interested in that "What if Evie realized Adam was useful when he was six" (*cough* RE Adam and James AU *cough*) idea, um, drop a comment.


	6. Chapter 6

James thought Anderson was done for the day. He thought he’d have to endure dinner with him. He thought Anderson would tell him to go to bed, and maybe even try to tuck him in. James wouldn’t have been that surprised, considering how Anderson had talked about _being fatherly_ before.

Turns out he was just taking a break.

They arrived at his quarters, he unlocked the door, unceremoniously yanked James inside before closing and locking the door behind him. James almost felt like a package. Anderson hadn’t even stayed to tell him when he planned to return!

And so James was alone. Again.

He ate the food someone delivered. Again. It was delicious. _Again._

And when he started yawning he sent himself to bed. Which wasn’t hard. Before Adam deserted the military (and became a rebel) James had spent more nights alone than in the company of an adult for almost two years. Sure, it had been almost five months since the last time he was completely on his own, but he still remembered what to do.

He took a shower (with hot water!!) with the fancy bars laid out on the counter, dried his hair with the hairdryer (otherwise you might catch a cold!), put on his pajamas that he found in the wardrobe, brushed his teeth with a new toothbrush, and tucked himself in.

Despite having seen Adam that very afternoon he missed him already. Why did the evil scientists have to keep them separated at night? _During the day_ he understood, they did their tests during the day. It’s not like Anderson _wanted_ his company since he wasn’t even there.

He had said it was to make sure James didn’t get hurt, but what was there to say that he couldn’t hurt himself while being left alone here? As much as he disliked admitting to being a child he knew that you weren’t supposed to leave children alone.

 _Stupid Cyborg…_ , he thought, then he fell asleep, hoping that he’d get to meet Adam tomorrow again.

When he woke up there was music. And by how he wanted to close his eyes again he realized it was still in the middle of the night. Which meant the music was because Anderson had returned.

He didn’t actually want to go talk to Anderson. But at the same time, the man had been gone when he woke up in the morning last time, so if he wanted to ask for when he could see Adam again he probably needed to do that now.

So, on naked feet, he got out of bed and walked out to peek around the corner from where he could view the living room.

The screen of the TV was turned on and it was showing a bar slowly being filled up, with seconds ticking down to 4:23. It wasn’t a movie, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out that it had something to do with the music playing.

A guitar was playing, accompanied by a deeper bouncy noise. A base.

Anderson was sitting in one of the stuffed chairs. He had a day’s worth of stubble on his face. His tie was gone, as well as his jacket. He was holding a stubby glass, resting the weight of his against his stomach. Aquamarine eyes glued to the ceiling but not really looking.

James hesitated. He knew the smell from when Benny returned from the black market.

“Are you drunk?”

Anderson’s gaze did not leave the ceiling. He didn’t seem at all surprised that James had woken up. “No.”

“Are you jetlagged?”

“No. This is my schedule.”

“You’ve scheduled sulking in the middle of the night? Instead of, you know, sleeping”, James wondered. “Cyborgs need to sleep too.”

Anderson glanced at him. Maybe it was the alcohol, but his glare wasn’t as sharp as usual.

“No...”, he finally said and returned his gaze to the ceiling. “It’s more of a reserved time slot just in case I get in the mood.”

“What’s _the mood?”,_ James wondered. “Sulking?”

“Wrath. Melancholy. Disappointment”, Anderson listed. He paused. Frowned a little. “Or are those words too big for you?”

James scowled. Why did everyone assume that he didn’t know stuff?! He wasn’t born yesterday! He crossed his arms.

“We’ve had tests in synonyms”, he proudly informed the man. “You’re _sad.”_

“Want to talk about it?”, he asked as he went to sit on the sofa. Sure, Anderson was an evil cyborg, but his gut wanted him to at least try to make him feel better.

He was still surprised though when Anderson didn’t snap at him to leave him alone with his mopping. Instead, Anderson sighs gently through his nose, spins the glass in the palm of his hand. He takes a sip.

“I didn’t think I’d ever hear that stupid nickname again.”

“Cyborg?”

“No.”

And then he was quiet.

“Then what?”, James asked when the silence had stretched long enough that he understood that Anderson wasn’t planning to elaborate on his own accord.

Anderson groaned. And just when James thought he wouldn’t answer at all, it came: “Addie.”

James blinked. Had he said that? He tried not to when they weren’t in private, since Adam got mad, but maybe he had. Anderson had kind of riled him up after all. “That’s what Mom used to call Adam.”

“I know.”

“And you’re sad because I reminded you of Mom by calling Adam Addie, and thinking of Mom made you remember that she’s dead?” He phrased it as a question because the point wasn’t for him to tell Anderson how he was feeling. The point was for Anderson to hear it himself and confirm or adjust it to put words to his own feelings.

It was a strategy he had developed himself.

“Sounds about right”, Anderson said and took another sip.

“That happens to Adam too.”

Anderson actually glanced at him at that. Man and boy regarded each other for a moment in silence. Anderson finished his glass, stood up and walked over to the table where James had sat and eaten. A bottle was standing there now, and Anderson used it to refill his glass.

James realized that he had been right about the kitchen, because the door was now open, and he could make out a fridge and some tabletops through the opening.

Anderson drank the glass he had poured for himself in one swing and immediately went to refill it. James suspected that if he didn’t ask about Adam he’d probably miss his chance. Because Benny tended to get dazed and sleepy after the third glass. Not that he knew how many glasses Anderson had already had.

“When may I go see Adam again?”, James asked.

Anderson groaned and brought up his free hand to rub his face. _“I don’t know!_ I told you, he’s supposed to be sedated.”

“But if he’s awake, could I go see him? It doesn’t even have to be tomorrow”, James tried.

Anderson shook his head. “You’re supposed to be asleep.” The thick glass rang out as he set it down.

“So are you...”, James pointed out.

Anderson didn’t show whether he agreed or not. What was clear, however, was that he wasn’t going to answer his question.

James stubbornly remained seated as Anderson walked up to him. He expected Anderson to grab his arm, much like when they had been walking around the base that day and tow him to his room. But instead the man bent down, got his arms underneath his legs and back and picked him up. And despite the smell of alcohol on his breath Anderson didn’t as much as sway.

James crossed his arms. He wasn’t some baby that needed to be carried! Still, he understood that it wasn’t the greatest idea to try and wrestle out of there. He didn’t like to admit it, but he could feel that Anderson’s muscles were larger than Adam’s; and trying to wrestle out of Adam’s arms was hard enough.

He couldn’t help but take a look at the man, seeing that he probably wouldn’t get this up close to him again.

Something other than skin was peeking out from his unbuttoned collar. James knew the telltale signs of ink to know that it was a tattoo.

He barely had any time to look at it though before Anderson arrived at his room, where he deposited him on his bed.

“You never answered my question”, James reminded him.

Anderson shook his head as he turned around and gave the boy a dismissive wave over the shoulder.

“Go to bed.”

“I’m not tired”, James lied as he climbed out of bed to follow the man towards the door. When he caught up to him he tugged on Anderson’s shirt. The man barely glanced at him before brushing him off.

“Tell me if I’m going to see Adam again first”, the boy insisted. “I miss him! I want to see him!”

_“Go to bed!”_

Then the room became dark as the man slammed the door in his face.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Talking to myself*: I am overthinking this fic so hard. I don't need it to be a slow-burn. It's okay to have dramatic yelling and screaming and James constantly waking up because I don't know how else to *plot-progression*.

As predicted, Anderson was gone when he woke up. He didn’t come back until after James had finished his dinner. He didn’t hide under the bed today. Today he was waiting, and he pounced as soon as Anderson stepped inside.

“Did you see Adam today?”

“No.”

“Can we go see him now?”

_ “No.” _ A pause. “Why is there food left?”

Anderson, who had been looking at the table, turned and looked at James. “Why haven’t you eaten? Was there something wrong with it?”

James shook his head.

“It was just too much.”

“And the cleaners didn’t remove it?”

“I asked them to leave it be. I can eat the rest tomorrow for lunch.”

Anderson looked at him strangely before picking up the plate and heading to the door leading to the kitchen. It slid open for him. James followed.

Anderson pulled open a bottom cabinet. James quickly realized that it wasn’t the fridge. Anderson was just about to tip the contents of the plate into the waiting garbage can when James rushed up.

“Hey!”, James exclaimed. “Don’t throw it away!”

“This isn’t enough for one meal”, Anderson chided, like James was stupid.

“Sure it is!”, James insisted. He would have wrestled him for the plate, but fighting over food that wasn’t attached to the plate felt like a bad idea.

Instead, he tried to cover the opening of the garbage bin. That would make the food fall on his hands if Anderson didn’t listen to him, but it was the only thing he could do.

They glared at each other for a bit.

_ “Fine”, _ Anderson said as he dropped the plate on the counter. James had already deduced that the material wasn’t breakable. He had a vague idea how he could make a knife if he wanted to with a broken plate or mirror, but even if he did know he’d never be able to break Adam out that way. He didn’t know how to wield a shank.

Actually, he didn’t think he’d be able to break Adam out no matter what he did. And he hated it.

“You may save this for lunch”, Anderson declared. “But you better not whine about being hungry when I get back tomorrow.”

“Alright.”

“You will need access to the kitchen...”, Anderson continued, more to himself as he got plastic wrap from a cabinet and started covering the plate. 

“I don’t get why you keep it locked in the first place”, James told him.

Anderson made a noise that sounded like a scoff as he walked over to the fridge.

_ “You’re funny”,  _ Anderson remarked before closing the fridge again.

“I mean it...”, James insisted.

Instead of elaborating verbally Anderson walked up to a wooden block standing on the counter. It had black handles sticking out of it. He pulled one out at random to reveal a long shiny blade.

Yeah, he could see why Cyborg had kept the kitchen locked now.

“It’ll be an easy fix.” Anderson picked up the block and walked out the door on the other end of the kitchen. And once again James followed.

They walked down a hall and up to a doorway that Anderson needed to touch to open. When they entered James’ eyes went wide. The walls were covered floor to ceiling with glass-door cabinets filled with guns and knives. And the room was large! Surely as big as the living room, if not larger!

It made Warner’s wall look like an amateur collection.

Anderson walked up to one of the doors, opened it and placed the block of knives inside. James didn’t have to ask to understand that the cabinets wouldn’t open to him. Just like the kitchen door.

It looked kind of strange; kitchen knives in a box next to the ninja, murder,  _ slice you into ribbons _ knives. It was kind of like a family get-together James realized. A family of knives. Adam and him could be the tame-looking kitchen knives; even if he felt more like a butter-knife; while the sharp scary looking ones could be Anderson and Warner.

“Where’s Warner?”, James asked when Anderson closed the glass door.

_ “Aaron _ is here on base if that’s what you’re asking.”

“I knew that”, James told him as they headed back towards the living room. “You talked about it with Max. Have you visited him? ...Aaron?”

“Yes. As much faith I have in Evie and Max I wouldn’t be surprised she slipped too much sedatives into his food.”

“So he’s sedated?”, James wondered frowning.

Anderson smiled.

“Oh yes, very.”

That didn’t sound too good. Still, James had gotten an idea. Maybe he could try to figure out where Warner was being kept. Warner would definitely be able to break Adam out, once he had shaken off the sedation. Maybe James’ powers could help some with it. According to the girls he was able to repel a few poisons when after they ran some tests. If Warner was willing to help, that is. But he probably did. Especially if they could find Juliette while they were at it.

Speaking of Juliette, maybe she was being kept on the base as well. She could probably also break Adam out.

“Does he have a better room than Adam?”, James wondered.

“Nope. Aaron did not get a room anywhere near as nice as Adam’s.”

_ “Really?” _ It sounded strange. Anderson seemed to like Warner much better than the rest of them. Adam’s room wasn’t that nice to begin with. Sure, it had a big colorful window, but you could only do that much with colored light. And if the point was to keep Warner sedated James figured Anderson would like to put him in a nice big bed. “Why?”

“Because he was a bad child who tried to start a revolution. There needs to be consequences.”

“Like my friends from Omega point?”, James perked up.

Anderson glanced at him. Perhaps his jump in the conversation hadn’t been as smooth as he had thought. James gazed back innocently.

“Yes”, Anderson said finally. “I’d say they’re at about the same level.” 

By the way he said it James understood that it did  _ not _ mean that the Omega Pointers were being treated better than the average prisoner. Not like James was being treated...

What he did know was that it would look mighty suspicious if he just dropped the conversation after that, so James followed up with the first question that popped into his head.

“What’s your tattoo?”

The randomness of the question worked wonderfully. Anderson blinked.

“What?”, he said, as if he thought he had misheard. He seemed to be in a good mood though. He had taken a seat on the sofa.

“You have a tattoo on your neck”, James told him.

Anderson stared at him for a moment. “It’s just a tattoo...”

“Did Mom like it?”

Four words. Like a bucket of acetone. Confused half-smile slipped off into something ugly. Offended. Angry.

James just stood there. Not sure whether or not to be scared. He still had a small hope he’d receive an answer.

“Or maybe you got it after she died...”, he said after a few seconds of the two of them just looking at each other.

“Go hop into your pajamas”, Anderson said, completely ignoring the questions. As if he was dismissing them as James being tired and not knowing any better.

James frowned. It wasn’t fair.

“Tell me something about Mom first”, James said.

“Excuse me?”, Anderson said. Slowly. Still sitting back. Arms resting up on the back of the couch.

“Evie said you brought Mom here when she was pregnant”, James said, speaking a little too fast than he wanted to, but at the same time he didn’t want to be interrupted. “I want to know more about my mom.”

Anderson shook his head.

“Tell me something about Mom”, the boy insisted.

“Shut up and go to bed.”

And there was something about  _ that. _ _ That  _ that kept happening. The crack in the door leading to the slighest snippet of information about his mother; slamming shut. He was used to Adam’s. But this, after finding  _ his Dad. _ It hurt worse somehow.

_ “Why is it that no one wants to talk about people when they’ve died!?”, _ James yelled.

Anderson looked as surprised as he felt over his outburst. And the words just flowed. Like water. Like the slammed doors were drops collected in a cup and it finally overflowed. He couldn’t stop it.

“Adam doesn’t want to.  _ You  _ don’t want to, but I’m the only one who barely remembers her! It’s not fair! She was  _ my  _ mom, too but everyone just seems to forget that  _ and I d-don’t like that _ I HATE IT!”

His words were making Anderson angry. He could tell. The man’s body was like a wound up spring. Tense and angry, just like the orphans back in the apartment complex back in sector 45, right before they sprung on each other into a furious fistfight.

But he was startled. Just like those kids when Benny yelled at them across the yard.

James didn’t stick around to see if he’d calm down though. Because startled kids could still throw punches. And if it was one thing he was sure of it was that he did NOT want to end up in a fistfight with Cyborg.

He tried to slam his door for a nice finish, but he didn’t have the arm strength. Then he crawled into his bed and cried for a bit.

Once he had calmed down he considered barricading the door; because if Cyborg didn’t come to kill him that night Adam would definitely show up the next day and give him the spanking of his life.

He waited. Then he waited some more.

No one came.

And after waiting even longer he went to bed.

He woke up to someone banging on a door. There was that music again. And shouting.

“Anderson!” Followed by more banging.

James pushed off the blankets and got out of bed. If Anderson really wasn’t here he ought to tell whomever it was at the door so they’d quit banging.

Halfway down the hallway, the boy heard the door open. He didn’t think anyone besides Cyborg could do that!

“Anderson!”

James looked around the doorway. A suited man, not very different to Anderson’s suit, was standing, fuming, by the stuffed chair. Anderson was sleeping in the chair. Glass clutched in his hand.

The strange man shook Anderson’s shoulder.

_ “Anderson!”, _ he bellowed. He had an accent, not too different to the children relocated from the southern sectors.

“He’s been drinking”, James perked up.

The man looked up, a little startled. But he regained his composure fast enough.

“Your Papi drinks every even hour of the day, it hasn’t stopped me before.”

Then he walked off in the direction of the kitchen, and James was just about to call out that that place was locked when the newcomer slapped the wall and the door slid open. James heard a few cupboards being opened and closed, then the noise of the tap running. The man came out with a glass of water in his hand.

He returned to Anderson’s chair, removed the empty glass from Anderson’s hand, took a step back then unceremoniously tossed the water into Anderson’s face.

It wasn’t as dramatic as James had hoped. Instead of flying off the chair with a roar Anderson just startled himself awake with a gasp, looking around wildly for the assaulter. 

“What the hell...?!”, Anderson muttered. Then his eyes landed on the man. “Castillo…?”

_ “Anderson”, _ the man said. “You are  _ late! _ I’ve tried calling you for almost an hour but you’ve been  _ sleeping _ the night away. Tatiana and Ibrahim are already on the line. Get a hang of yourself!”

Then he pushed off Anderson in the direction of the kitchen, and James could only assume that Anderson’s room was located on the same side as the weaponry.

He returned within a minute, fully dressed in a new shirt and suit jacket. His eyes were a little bloodshot still, but he looked fresh and ready to go.

As they turned to leave Castillo tapped Anderson on the shoulder before nodding in James’ direction. Anderson looked at him, as if just remembering that he had a kid he kept waking up by his nightly ongoings.

He sighed, then waved at the screen; making the music stop.

“Go back to bed”, he said. And then they left, leaving James alone again.


End file.
